Naruto had originally planned to just go through the motions.
But for the sake of the entire Shinobi World and to ensure his future descendants wouldn't end up like Kankuro, he had no choice but to give it his all.
Naruto slammed the table and stood up, looking at Chiyo while suppressing the churning in his stomach, "All the old... Elders of Sunagakure."
"Please rest assured! Leave this matter to me… I'll definitely handle it!"
Jiraiya chuckledsoftly and sighed inwardly.
'Heh...'
'This damn brat is like this again.'
'Handle it?!'
'If this gets left to you, it's practically guaranteed to be a disaster, isn't it?'
Jiraiya had no intention of getting involved in Sunagakure's affairs anymore, nor did he plan to stay any longer.
After all, Sunagakure's current situation was already bad enough, so no matter how much Naruto messed around, he couldn't possibly make things worse.
Right now, he just wanted to get the hell out of this godforsaken place!
This village not only lacked any decent entertainment districts but was also full of muscular men. It is practically his personal hell.
And if he stayed any longer...
Jiraiya felt like even his 'White-haired Youth' title would be eroded by the desert winds, wrinkles and all.
In the following meeting, after a series of polite greetings from the yellow-haired guy, such as 'You don't want your grandson to become like that, do you?', a consensus was finally reached.
After the meeting ended, Jiraiya quietly slipped out of Sunagakure while Naruto wasn't paying attention.
Although he felt he left secretly, Naruto saw everything clearly. He simply chose to turn a blind eye to his teacher's antics.
After all, the unreliable white-haired old man had been like this for as long as he could remember.
If he stayed, he'd probably just get in the way anyway.
Temari led Naruto out of the Kazekage Building. The moment they stepped outside, they saw Gaara sitting on the steps, his chin supported by his hands, staring at the sky in a daze.
If not for the door panel made of sand beside him, he'd look just like a normal kid...
Hearing the footsteps behind him, Gaara turned his head to look at the two of them, the excitement in his eyes was indescribable.
"Naruto!"
"I've been waiting for you!"
"Can you tell me what material you used for your door panel?"
Naruto: "???"
'Wait…??'
'Since when did Gaara become obsessed with door panels too?'
'Could it be that he was possessed by Konohamaru?'
'Besides, my version had already been updated.'
'I no longer used door panels. I've used the latest weapon instead… the black coffin with compound eyes!'
When Gaara saw that Naruto had a strange expression on his face, he scratched his head and grinned sheepishly, showing none of his former violent demeanor.
"That…"
"I just noticed that everyone has been having trouble sleeping lately..."
"So I wanted to make them some door panels to help them rest better."
Hearing this, Naruto fell silent again.
'Gaara, you really don't have to go that far...'
'If you really wanted the villagers to sleep well, you should focus on dealing with Kankuro and his gang of muscular men.'
'Maybe this way, everyone won't have to stay up all night worrying about being attacked by a muscular man.'
'Still, it had to be said...'
'Even though Gaara hadn't gone down the same path as in the original work, he still cares about the villagers as always.'
'At this rate, Sunagakure might just become the future production hub for door panels across the Shinobi World.'
"Gaara!!"
"Cut it out already!!"
Temari couldn't take it anymore and immediately yelled at her brother.
Maybe Naruto didn't understand the meaning behind Gaara's words, but she knew exactly what he meant!
What her brother said was not about letting everyone sleep better, but about sneaking into the villagers' homes and knocking people unconscious with door panels.
Right now, half of the reason why everyone in Sunagakure can't sleep well now is because of Gaara.
And the other half was because of Kankuro...
"Why are you so fierce?!"
Naruto couldn't stand it anymore, 'What was wrong with Gaara trying to help the villagers sleep better?'
'This was a surefire way to earn their recognition!'
'By stopping Gaara, wasn't Temari just trying to prevent him from becoming the Godaime Kazekage?!'
Naruto glared at Temari, then pulled Gaara to the side to discuss door panel designs and materials.
When Temari saw that she was unable to stop these two guys, her nose felt sore and she almost cried.
A terrible sense of foreboding settled in her heart.
Ten minutes later...
Gaara left happily with a stack of blueprints in hand, and Naruto also returned to Temari's side.
"Huh?"
"Why are your eyes red?"
"Were you crying just now?"
Naruto looked at the blonde girl in confusion and casually asked.
"No!"
"I wasn't crying!!"
"Where are we going next!?"
Temari spoke through gritted teeth.
Probably, only someone like Shikamaru would ever fall for this girl's nonsense.
"Let's go find Kankuro first."
"I'll figure out a way to correct them."
Temari snorted coldly, and immediately turned to walk ahead without another word.
Naruto, who was following behind, could only sigh at the complexity of a girl's mind.
'Hmm…'
'Hinata's still easier to understand, at least she won't throw tantrums at me.'
Temari led Naruto for a while and they arrived at a large square.
In the square, Kankuro was leading a group of muscular men in nothing but shorts through some kind of exercise.
They lifted humanoid puppets high above their heads, then lowered them, repeating the motion over and over while making strange, breathy grunting noises.
The artistic expression was a little too avant-garde, and even someone as knowledgeable as Naruto found it hard to comprehend.
'Damn it!'
'This is way too painful to look at!!'
After one glance, Naruto immediately turned on his heel and started walking back the way he came, as if he had made some kind of resolute decision.
'Sunagakure is beyond saving!'
'See you never!'
'Goodbye!!'
"Naruto, wait!!"
"You just said you'd help us fix this!!"
When Temari saw Naruto turning and leaving, she desperately grabbed his arm, practically on the verge of kneeling before him.
"Temari-sis..."
"It's not that I don't want to help..."
"It's just that they're beyond saving!"
Naruto glanced at the sea of muscular men in the square, his expression so twisted it looked like he'd swallowed something sour.
But right at that moment, Kankuro, who was leading the muscular men in training, spotted Naruto.
"Naruto!!"
"Brothers! Our mentor in the new era of Puppet Technique is here!!"
"Ah! It's Uzumaki Naruto, da ze!"
"You are our guiding light, da ze!"
"We revere you, da ze!"
The moment the crowd heard this, they all turned to stare at Naruto. Their eager gazes made Naruto want to open a portal and return to Konoha on the spot.
But then, he remembered that if he didn't do something about this group of people, perhaps even his own future son might fall victim to this 'virus'.
'Never mind…'
'Let's see if these guys can be salvaged.'
'If all else fails, I'll just blow up the whole Sunagakure.'
In the end, Naruto had no choice but to walk towards the crowd.
As he walked, Naruto had already made up his mind. As long as this group of people rushed towards him, he would immediately use Wind Release: Bloodburst Technique to run away.
Fortunately, Kankuro still had some prestige among this group of people, so he did not create the kind of scenario Naruto dreaded.
Under their eager gazes, Naruto soon found himself standing on a raised platform.
Seeing this, Kankuro, acting like an overeager lackey, bent at the waist and gestured for Naruto to address the crowd.
Glancing at the muscular men holding the humanoid puppet, Naruto thought for a while and finally spoke to everyone, "Everyone..."
"I want to know how exactly you fight now..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a muscular man stepped forward and swung his puppet a few times.
As he swung his puppet, the puppet's head suddenly split open, revealing many blades inside.
He waved again, and a barrage of senbon shot out from the puppet's limbs.
"Mentor!"
"It's thanks to your teachings that we've achieved such incredible Puppet Technique, da ze!"
"Before this, we were always going in the wrong direction, da ze!"